Natural Investments LLC Invests $249,000 in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,494 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $733,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $795,000. State Street Corp increased its position in General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after buying an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 269.8% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,318,000 after buying an additional 20,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Electric by 60.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,662 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 5,162 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Up 1.8 %

General Electric stock opened at $195.21 on Thursday. General Electric has a one year low of $131.91 and a one year high of $212.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $194.56 and a 200 day moving average of $183.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $209.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GE. Citigroup raised their price target on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.31.

About General Electric

General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, designs and produces commercial and defense aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power, and mechanical aircraft systems. It also offers aftermarket services to support its products. The company operates in the United States, Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.